Here’s our selection of the best frontline blogs we’ve read this week – from ‘police plebs’ to joined-up justice. Do send us your suggestions for great posts we’ve missed – and those frontline bloggers we should follow in the future.
Policing
Manchester police plebs are doubleplusgood
From Inspector Gadget
Posted on 22nd September 2012
“This current government’s dealings with us are becoming a charade. It might be that we have to try to do something about this, without giving any ground if possible. The deaths of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone have shown both sides that this is not a game, as if we needed reminding.”
Inspector Gadget reminds us of the contradictions in the Government’s messages about the police force - praising the work of officers whilst cutting their jobs, pay and pensions.
From PCBloggs
Posted on 23rd September 2012
“How do you write a piece about “what it’s like to be a female police officer”, when what it’s like is almost exactly like being a male police officer?”
Sgt Ellie Bloggs reflects on what life is like for policewomen on the frontline in light of the deaths of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes. She also speculates on what this means for the debate about arming the police. See also her comment piece in the Telegraph.
Education
Personal and professional conduct
From Teaching Science
Posted on 26th September 2012
“After all, they can hardly object to us holding them to the same standards they ask of us…”
Since teachers are provided with guidance from policymakers about their ‘personal and professional conduct’, why shouldn’t teachers provide the equivalent guidance for policymakers? And what would the guidance say?
Disability
From Same Difference
Posted on 25th September 2012
“Our strength is our differences and where they overlap. It is unfortunate that at present we live in a society and under a government where the opposite appears to be extolled. We find that our basic rights are under threat, seen as luxury and privilege. The crips have had it too good, now we must conform to old stereotypes of being ‘the vulnerable’, in need of ‘care’ provided by a system that knows what we need better than we do.”
Guest blogger Penny Pepper reflects on how her activism informs her writing, and how changes in people’s thinking don’t always have to come from ‘loud aggressive action’.
Health
The looming crisis in the hospital sector
From Mark Newbold
Posted on 26th September 2012
“So we have a developing crisis in the acute sector. Hospital trusts must achieve 5% and upwards each year in efficiency improvements, without the annual income increases they have had before. They must also, according to received wisdom, reduce bed capacity as care ‘shifts to the community’. And they must do these whilst maintaining at least current levels of operational performance, quality, and safety. It is hard to believe the sector will survive the coming years unchanged. But what options do boards have?”
This week the Care Services Minister Norman Lamb admitted that care services are under “enormous strain”, following new Public Health Minister Anna Soubry’s acknowledgement last week that the Government “screwed up” its NHS reforms. In this post Mark Newbold casts a light on the growing crisis in the acute sector because of the Government’s £20 billion ‘efficiency savings’ and argues that a ‘whole system approach’ is needed to reduce demand.
Professionals, patients and social media
From The Not So Big Society
Posted on 26th September 2012
“Earlier this week I met up for a pint with Victoria Betton, author of the Digital Mental Health blog. This turned into quite an in-depth conversation about social media, and the way it’s used by people who work in or use mental health services. After we met I decided to jot down some of the thoughts and ideas we were bouncing about, and put them up in a blog post.”
Zarathustra believes that a chill has set in over the health blogging world, with professionals increasingly cautious in what they tweet or blog about and wonders whether professional cautiousness might swing the other way.
Mental health
From: Mental Health Cop
Posted on 25th September 2012
“I’m not sure anyone knows the size of the problem, regarding how many people with mental health problems become involved in the criminal justice process. I’ve stated previously that if we leave the police to their own devices, they will spot around 12-15% of detainees in police custody and suspect a mental health problem which needs at least the Force Medical Examiner’s attention. If the custody sergeant had fired off a list of all people arrested in the preceding 24 hours to the local mental health trust, they would have found that as many as 50% of those people arrested are known, have been known or need to be known by secondary care mental health services.”
Mental Health Cop argues that we need to better ‘co-join’ our criminal justice and mental health systems around a single vision of what they are trying to achieve, especially if we are to preserve public trust in their actions.
If you’re a frontline blogger, do send us your latest blogs on policy issues or posts from the past that you’re particularly proud of, and they could be included in next week’s round-up. Get in touch with us at: [email protected] or via Twitter @guerillapolicy
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